Actually, it may be. Because if the Hobby valet service follows similar trends, the valets will park the cars in some of the most convenient garage spaces. That means self-parkers will be pushed to the upper decks or the far recesses of the parking garage.

Now, I’m not a fan of valets, but I don’t begrudge the service to people who like it. What I resent is when the valets then claim the closest spaces in what seems like an attempt to force more people to use their service.

A couple of months ago, I ate at Feast, the soon-to-close restaurant where you can get the finest pickled lamb lips and sauteed pigs toenails in town. There’s no parking, and I was running late, so I used the valet. I then sat at my table and watched the valet back my car less than three feet and park it right under the window in which I was sitting. I didn’t need a valet for that. Heck, I didn’t even need an engine for that.

It’s not an unusual experience at Houston restaurants. I can think of several — Ouisie’s and Real come to mind — that block all the spaces in front of the restaurant for the valets, who then literally pull your car into a space a few feet away. They don’t even back in. I mean, if I’m paying for this service, at least show me some driving skill.

Valets, of course, are handy in situations where parking is limited, the weather is bad, or time is short. But too often, it’s more exploitation than service. It’s a parking fee in disguised as convenience. And the creeping occurrences of overwrought valetism seem to be growing.

Valets now dominate the parking at shopping malls, office buildings and, perhaps most disturbingly, at hospitals.

So, if Hobby Airport wants to contract with a private company to offer valet service at the terminal, fine. But please don’t punish other passengers who don’t want to use the service. Make the valets earn their pay. Make them use the top decks, and leave the more convenient spaces for self-parkers.

At least then, if I do use the valet and I see the attendant fetching my car from the farthest reaches of the parking lot, I’ll feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.